HMS Goldfinch (1889)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Goldfinch.

HMS Goldfinch was a Redbreast-class gunboat of the Royal Navy, built at Sheerness Dockyard and launched on 18 May 1889.^[2]

The gunboat HMS Goldfinch, a painting by William Bloomfield Douglas
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Goldfinch
Builder	Sheerness Dockyard
Cost	£39,300[1]
Launched	18 May 1889
Commissioned	1890
Fate	Sold 14 May 1907 for breaking
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	Redbreast-class gunboat
Displacement	805 tons
Length	165 ft 0 in (50.3 m) pp
Beam	31 ft 0 in (9.4 m)
Draught	11 ft 0 in (3.35 m) min, 13 ft 9 in (4.19 m) max
Installed power	1,200 ihp (890 kW)
Propulsion	Triple expansion steam engine 2 × boilers Single screw
Sail plan	Barquentine-rigged
Speed	13 kn (24 km/h)
Range	2,500 nmi (4,600 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h)[1]
Complement	76
Armament	6 × 4-inch/25-pounder QF guns 2 × 3-pounder (47 mm) QF guns 2 × machine guns

Service

Officers aboard Goldfinch at Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, early 1900s

She commenced service on the Australia Station in March 1890.^[2] She left the Australia Station in August 1899 and returned to England. She was converted into a survey vessel in January 1902,^[2] and commissioned by Commander Frederick Charles Learmonth on 4 February 1902.^[3][4] She left Sheerness for the Mediterranean later that month on surveying duties.^[5] In October 1902 she left Malta for the West Coast of Africa,^[6] visiting Sierra Leone and Calabar in December.^[7]

Fate

Goldfinch returned to Sheerness for refitting for continued service in 1906, but was found to be in poor condition and the sloop Mutine was refitted as a survey ship to replace her.^[8] Goldfinch was sold on 14 May 1907 for breaking up.^[2]

Citations

1. Winfield (2004), pp.299-300
2. Bastock, p.114.
3. "Naval & Military Intelligence". The Times. No. 36676. London. 28 January 1902. p. 3.
4. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36683. London. 5 February 1902. p. 10.
5. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36697. London. 21 February 1902. p. 9.
6. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36906. London. 23 October 1902. p. 5.
7. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36946. London. 9 December 1902. p. 10.
8. "Naval Matters—Past and Prospective: Sheerness Dockyard". The Marine Engineer and Naval Architect. Vol. 29. 1 November 1909. p. 115.

References

• Bastock, John (1988), Ships on the Australia Station, Child & Associates Publishing Pty Ltd; Frenchs Forest, Australia. ISBN 0-86777-348-0
• Winfield, R.; Lyon, D. (2004). The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-032-6. OCLC 52620555.